Lawna Mackie, paranormal romance author
by Lawna Mackie, Author of Perfect Misfits, on the WOW Blog Tour
I like to say thanks to Charlotte for having me visit her today. I’m a romance author who writes paranormal and dark fantasy. If anybody out is wondering what exactly that might be I’d suggest they read a Sherrilyn Kenyon novel although she writes more of an urban fantasy flare. She’s one of my favorite authors and besides reading one of my novels, Sherrilyn is fantastic.
As a teenager I became an avid reader of romance. I’m sure I devoured one daily and did so for many years. After a period of time I discovered paranormal romances and even stumbled upon a romance with a science fiction sort of theme. I loved them, perhaps because they were different from everything else that I’d been reading.
What I’d discovered was that were other ways to write romance and for me it was a whole eye-opening experience. My biggest problem for many years ago was trying to find these different types of romance genres. It wasn’t easy. I guess from the bookstore’s point of view, I could understand they would probably wonder how to shelve these novels. Were they romance, science fiction, or perhaps fantasy or maybe a bit of all of these? As the years went by it became easier to find the novels which captured my heart, but even today it’s still not perfect. I think buying books online made this much simpler.
Perfect Misfits by Lawna Mackie
I started writing my first romance novel in 2008, and was surprised at how much I absolutely loved it! I must admit I was a closet writer because most of my friends were professional communicators and writing daily, making a living doing it. I didn’t want to embarrass myself. Looking back, I laugh at myself now.
This first book that I wrote was called ENCHANTMENT and I must say the concept for the novel came to me in a dream. I somehow managed to create a bizarre creature in my dream. He was a Hippo-Dog-Burrowing Owl…I know…go figure. I have no idea where that thought came from, anyway, I named him Threeo. He was essentially a hippo, a dog, and a burrowing owl. Milk and cookies, it’s a magical combination for creating odd dreams!
I knew my critters and characters did not belong in the real world. I was itching to create a new world and so ENCHANTMENT became a reality. What a liberating feeling it is to have the ability to make a world where anything goes. Enchantment is a world full of magic, seven moons, seven suns, and each day the sky is a different color. I could make whatever I wanted in this world.
Pantser or plotter? I’m a pantser through and through and love writing and not really knowing where the story will go. What I do know is that I write romance and there will always be a happy- ever-after. My point of bringing this up is that in order to create new worlds you have to pay attention to detail and I did find that I had to be more meticulous when it came to capturing the true qualities or flaws of the world. I had to make notes. In my recent novel PERFECT MISFITS, I had to remember the different realms of the world and what was important about each. The same goes with the characters. Were there powers or abilities, or lack of abilities, different in each world? And if so why, what was it about the realm that made it so. I had to become a bit of a plotter.
Creating new worlds is liberating but it’s also a lot of work. Another positive attribute to building new worlds is the fact I believe there is a lot of room to create sequels or to write a series. There are some many different ways to write a story, especially if you’ve created a world with endless possibilities! All my novels can be found on Amazon, just click here.
Thanks for visiting with me today and I look forward to hearing from you!
Connect with Lawna Mackie at
http://www.lawnamackie.ca
http://www.facebook.com/lawnam
http://www.twitter.com/Lawna
mailto:lawna@lawnamackie.ca
Thanks for such an encouraging post! I’ve have an inner author that is working on coming out. I too have created some creatures and scenarios that can’t inhabit the “natural” world. So, I’m creating my fantasy land. I love the outlet that creative writing has given me. When our son flew the coop (some call it Empty Nest Syndrome) I turned to WORDS as something to focus on and do.
I love the idea and thought ” I could make whatever I wanted in this world.” I sometimes get too trapped in the REAL and need to learn to spread my wings and imagination. There is no “NO” in creative writing! Thank you for the reminder =)
I’m impressed by Lawna’s ideas as well. She is much better at BIC-HOK than I am, so far. (Butt in chair, Hands on Keyboard.) WRITE ON!
Kim I love that “There is no ‘NO’ in Creative Writing!” Thanks for the comment!
Authors are amazing. I love reading books but I could never write a story that’s more than a page or two. Do what you love! 🙂
I like the post. I am a writer and am working on my second book. I love to read about other people’s process 🙂 And I can really appreciate “I was a closet writer”! I think that’s where alot of us start. 🙂
The second book is so different from the first. After all, you KNOW you can do it. Now I am working on remembering what I learned about writing while I am learning about marketing. Thanks for stopping by.
I don’t know what it is that makes some of us closet writers? For me probably insecurity…at first, but then eventually we get to type THE END and that isn’t an easy thing to do for just anyone 🙂 Thanks for sharing Jean!
“…to make a world where anything goes…” That’s what it’s all about, Lawna. So glad you’re creating your own special worlds. Keep up the good work! Best to you and your writing.
You too, Pat. I love your alternate history. Do you ever stray into the steampunk eras?
Charlotte, I enjoy reading and watching steampunk, but I’ll leave its creation to those more up to snuff with the nuances of the genre.
Pat, I’m not so sure that there are nuances. Bring your Boru up another hundred years or so in the alternate world, and you’re there. I will say that doing the research for steampunk is fun–who knew there was history outside the American Civil War–still referred to here as “the late unpleasantness.” 😉
Hi Pat! Nice to see you here. Thanks for the comment 🙂
Creating new worlds is liberating but it’s also a lot of work. — I love that line. So funny. Enjoyed reading this. Looking forward to learning more. From a fellow Blog Challenge friend. xo
Thanks for coming by, Katie. In reality, though, we really do create our own worlds, every day. I’m still having a few problems with that seventh moon though! 😉
An encouraging post, to be sure. Thank you!
Glad you liked it. Do visit Lawna’s pages too.